Summary

Heinlein explains the highly developed Martians that raised Michael. They begin life as nymphs that frolic on the Martian surface until they reach the next stage of nestling. During the nymph time, eight of nine nymphs die on the surface. The surviving nymphs then become fertilized by adults and produce eggs, after which the nymphs become adults. As such, the Martians must do the work needed to keep their civilization going, but most of their time they spend learning and pondering. As for the Martian sex life:

"Martians and humans were both self-aware life forms but they had gone in vastly different directions. All human behavior, all human motivations, all man's hopes and fears, were heavily colored and largely controlled by mankind's tragic and oddly beautiful pattern of reproduction. The same was true of Mars, but in mirror corollary. Mars had the efficient...